Investors Spurn US Foodservice Bond Offering

The WSJreports that investors turned their backs on a leveraged-buyout debt offering for Columbia's U.S. Foodservice yesterday, "leaving banks holding the bag for more than $3 billion and raising concerns about the changing economics of the takeover boom."

"Underwriters pulled a $1.55 billion bond offering by U.S. Foodservice, the nation's second-largest food distributor. The company also postponed plans to sell $2 billion in loans to fund the deal, according to people familiar with the matter. For now, the banks involved in underwriting the deal will have to lend the $3.6 billion directly to U.S. Foodservice, which is being bought from Royal Ahold NV of the Netherlands."